Lack of loyalty is a serious problem in organizations everywhere today.

No longer do people join a company and devote the rest of their working lives to it. Companies are, of course, not exactly known for offering up thirty or forty years of employment, a gold watch and pension plan.

Times have changed. Businesses appear and disappear at a dizzying pace. So do the jobs they offer. Organizations preoccupied with short-term, bottom line thinking often view their employees as little more than resources to be hired, fired, and manipulated as the need arises. Workers are naturally less happy on the job when they sense little or no loyalty from their employer.

Both sides pay a price for this lack of loyalty. What can you do to avoid this terrifying outcome? Learn from others.

Are the people who pay for goods and services "Customers," "Patients," "Students," "Residents," or "Guests?"

Are the people working in an organization "Associates," "Team Members," "Partners," "Employees or "Cast Members"?

The debate about how to best address customers and employees consumes valuable time, energy and money in many organizations. Yet, merely changing nouns or verbs won't ensure a culture dedicated to world class customer service or create a motivated and engaged workforce.

Cultural etiquette, politeness, and good manners are passed down through societies from generation to generation.

Etiquette refers to the cultural guidelines for what is appropriate or inappropriate and polite or impolite. It gives a culture structure, integrity, grace, and finesse—all of which are uniquely adapted from one culture to another.

Fortunately, simple business and social etiquette are often based on basic common sense. Although etiquette styles and fads may come and go, the fundamentals of global etiquette remain essentially the same.

Sometimes collaboration hides a lack of accountability and balance masks an unwillingness to make a decision. Collaboration and balance are two virtues that can combine to cover up some nasty virtues. Leaders must take a hard look at the virtues they are proud of to make sure no vice lurks within.

How many times have you thought, "I wish I'd thought of that!" or wanted to know how to successfully connect to a winning concept? Great innovators create new ideas by making connections between seemingly unrelated experiences and observations to uncover surprising, unique insights. Now you can have the genius quotient, too.

American salespeople, Swiss mechanics, and Chinese factory workers all are more productive if they are hopeful.

In an effort to learn more about the universality and nature of the hope-productivity link, I worked with a team of researchers to meta-analyze more than fifty studies on hope and work.

We were able to quantify hope's contribution to productivity. Other conditions being equal, hope leads to a 14% bump in workplace outcomes. Drawing upon my research and findings from studies around the world, I found that there are five characteristics of hopeful employees that make them more productive than other people.

I know of a product manager working for a software start-up who spent many hours preparing for an important meeting. His goal was to gather his team's opinions on what features to include in the new release of the company's software product.

During the meeting, however, the product manager showed such enthusiasm for his own plan of action that his team members assumed he was unwilling to listen to their ideas.

His strong confidence sidetracked him from his initial plan of welcoming the team's suggestions.

Secret. Panera. Patagonia. Schwab. Krispy Kreme. Method. Louisville Slugger. Zappos. There are many a shining example of purpose-driven companies. But how does one isolate that brand purpose— the idea that inspires what you do and informs every action you take by getting to the core of why you do it?

Let's face it. In today's economy you know that you're fortunate to have a job so you can hesitate to admit when you feel overwhelmed. You don't want to come across as incapable or ungrateful so you just suck it up and hope that things will get better soon. The only problem is when they don't… and you realize if you don't start to set some boundaries that you'll burn out.

About Bullish on Books Blog

I read recently that about 11,000 business books are published per year. That’s a lot of books! You don’t have time to read all of them, but I’m trying. Here at Bullish on Books I will be your guide to the best business books on the market today.